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Discovery

What Is a “Good” Case?

What we’re looking for at the Gilbert Firm in terms of a good case, is a clear and concise wrong that has occurred; something that’s easily explained to a judge or a jury. And then we’re also looking for a client who has a compelling story. Doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist, but it may be someone who has worked at a company for a long time. It may be someone who has a great life story coming up. May be someone who has just been treated grossly unfairly – but if you can couple a clearly explainable wrong with a compelling story, that’s what we’re looking for.

At our firm, we help people whose right have been violated, and who have suffered because of a hostile work environment, or illegal or out-of-date educational policies. We help policyholders whose claims have been denied wrongly or unfairly, and don’t know what to do to get themselves back on track.

If you are unsure whether or not you need an attorney, call the Gilbert Firm. A member of our team will listen to your story, and let you know whether or not we are able to help you. To schedule a consultation with Justin Gilbert or one of our other attorneys, please call 888-996-9731 or fill out our contact form. We maintain offices in Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis, Jackson, and Knoxville.

Categories
Discovery

Meet Attorney Justin Gilbert of Gilbert McWherter Scott Bobbitt PLC

I grew up in middle Tennessee in Giles County, a town of about 10,000, all the way through eighth grade; then my family moved to Arkansas. We moved up to [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][another] town of about 10,000, and went to college in Arkansas. Then law school – went to SMU in Dallas – and then came back to Tennessee once I started practicing law.

I have a wife and four kids. My wife is Linda, and I have twin boys that are 14, John and Grant. I have a 12-year-old girl, Paige, and an 8-year-old daughter, Kate.

I went to college in Arkansas at a small school called Ouachita, which is in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. My hobbies are basketball, which has proven to be injury prone. But I walk, I play tennis, I play basketball, and I seem to go to a lot of tennis tournaments of my kids.

The Gilbert Firm represents employees, students and policyholders throughout Tennessee. To learn more about the Firm’s services, or to schedule an appointment with Justin Gilbert, please call 888.996.9731, or fill out our contact form. We maintain offices in Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis, Jackson and Knoxville.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

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Discovery

Meet Attorney Jonathan Bobbitt of Gilbert McWherter Scott Bobbitt PLC

I was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. Shortly after that my family moved to Jackson, and I was raised in West Tennessee; lived there most all of my life until about the last three years where I’ve been in Middle, Tennessee.

Out of college I sold billboards and I worked at a hospital, and waited for my wife to finish school and then went to law school. Since I’ve been out, I’ve practiced in a lot of different areas. A lot of business background, business consulting and commercial transactions, which led into my litigation career.

For fun, I enjoy running. That’s what I do, for fun. It’s a release for me; it’s fun for me. It’s funny because a lot of times when people find out how much I run, they say, “Oh, you’re so disciplined. You must live a very structured life.” The truth is, that’s not the case. I love it. I enjoy doing it, and primarily running through the woods on trail runs is what I like doing.

My family is very outdoorsy. We like to be outside camping, hiking, riding the jeep through trails and things like that. It’s just a lot of fun and we could spend a lot of time doing that. My little girl and my little boy both play soccer. My little boy plays football, and so we are seemingly always at a field of some sort on the weekends or running back and forth to practice, and that’s what we enjoy doing.

What I enjoy mostly about practicing law, is far and away, solving problems and helping people. Whether it’s a policy holder or an employee who is dealing with some employment issue, I enjoy getting with them and helping them through those difficult times. It’s just part of what drives me every day.

The Gilbert Firm represents policyholders, employees and students throughout Tennessee. To learn more about the Firm’s services, or to schedule an appointment with Jonathan Bobbitt, please call 888.996.9731, or fill out our contact form. We maintain offices in Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis, Jackson and Knoxville.

Categories
Discovery

Meet Attorney Clint Scott of Gilbert McWherter Scott Bobbitt PLC

I grew up in Jackson, Tennessee – God’s country to some people, especially me. My father was in manufacturing, ran the Wilson Sporting Goods plant; mom was a homemaker; sister two years younger than me – wonderful childhood. Lots of great memories: growing up playing sports, watching my sister play sports, hunting with my dad, spending time with my family.

Well, I graduated from North Side High School in Jackson, Tennessee and decided to go down to Starkville, Mississippi to Mississippi State University. I spent four years there; it was a good experience. When I came out I had no idea what I wanted to do at all. I ultimately found a job working with the SouthEastern Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation, where I was a supervisor spraying cotton. I had about 8,000 acres of cotton that I was over, that we were trying to eradicate a cotton plant bug named the boll weevil.

I did that for two years and about half way through there, end of the first year and working 90 hours a week in the summer in the cotton fields, I decided there had to be something else I could do. And about that time I was called to jury duty and became fascinated with what was going on in the courtroom and decided that I’d give law a try, and that’s what pushed me to ultimately take the LSAT and apply to University of Memphis and go to law school.

I decided to be a lawyer to help people. My mother had always taught me the golden rule was the standard by which we would live, we would treat others like we’d want to be treated, and I saw too many people not being treated the way they should be. Once I got into the practice of law, I realized that insurance companies weren’t treating people fairly and were essentially ruining their lives based on their conduct, and that’s what led me to where I am today where I represent policyholders against insurance companies, trying to recover the money that they’re owed under their policies.

I’m married. My wife Ashby is a lawyer; we met in law school. I would call us “dorks in love;” studied together, graduated together from law school, took the bar exam and got married two weeks later. We’ve got two children, Wyatt and Rhys; Wyatt is ten and Rhys is seven, and that takes up a lot of my time with parenting and their extracurricular activities.

My hobbies first and foremost are being parent and a husband. I spend a lot of time coaching my sons’ baseball and basketball teams, trying to teach the boys not only about baseball and basketball but about life: who to win, how to lose, how to work as a team, how to compete and give your most every time you go out on the court or on the baseball field.

I also enjoy hunting, I’ve been hunting since I was a little kid; my dad started me and I’ve brought that onto my children. They go with me and have been since they each turned five, and so I spend a lot of time duck hunting, dove hunting, deer hunting, turkey hunting, pretty much anything you can hunt, I spend my winter doing it.

The Gilbert Firm represents policyholders, employees and students throughout Tennessee. To learn more about the Firm’s services, or to schedule an appointment with Clint Scott, please call 888.996.9731, or fill out our contact form. We maintain offices in Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis, Jackson and Knoxville.

Categories
Discovery

Meet Attorney Brandon McWherter of Gilbert McWherter Scott Bobbitt PLC

I grew up in a very small town in West Tennessee: Rutherford, population 1,200. My dad worked for the local Farmer’s Co-op, my mom was a school teacher, and we grew up on farm. And so, my background is all about hard work and hauling hay and fixing fences, and living that type of lifestyle. Over the years though, I hated it at the time but since it has really shown me the benefit of hard work, and we try to bring that into our practice areas even today, because there is no substitute for preparing a case for trial, working it hard, working harder and smarter than the other lawyers.

That’s me in a nutshell. I’m about my roots. I’m about helping those who can’t help themselves and working as hard as I can.

I’m a terrible golfer – actually, I’m not that terrible, but I have an awful chipping game so I go back and forth over the green several times. But other than that, I love to fish. I’m big bass fisherman; I grew up bass fishing. I’ve got two wonderful girls and a sweet wife that keep me very, very busy, an eighth grader and a fifth grader. My family keeps me busy when I’m not working. That’s pretty much me.

The Gilbert Firm represents policyholders, employees and students throughout Tennessee. To learn more about the Firm’s services, or to schedule an appointment with Brandon McWherter, please call 888.996.9731, or fill out our contact form. We maintain offices in Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis, Jackson and Knoxville.

Categories
ADA & ADAA Age Discrimination (ADEA) Bankruptcy Discovery FMLA Overtime/Wage & Hour Retaliation Sex Discrimination Sexual Harassment Title VII Uncategorized Whistleblower Law

17th Annual TBA Labor and Employment Forum

Here’s a great CLE opportunity that will cover a ton of labor and employment topics.  The 17th Annual TBA Labor and Employment Forum is April 12 in Nashville.  I will be speaking about current developments in wage and hour law. 

This is my second year to speak at this event, and it’s an honor to be included among such great employment lawyers from across the state.  This year, the line-up of speakers includes  Judge Clifford Shirley, John Bode, Bob Boston, Stan Graham, and Mark Travis.  Register at http://tinyurl.com/azdyxcl

Categories
Discovery

Proposed Changes to the Discovery Rules of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Get Everyone’s Attention

It is hard to get plaintiff’s lawyers and defense lawyers to agree on anything. If one likes red wine, the other will take white. If one likes red meat, the other will eat grilled chicken. If a plaintiff’s lawyer enjoys the beach, a defense lawyer would rather go to the mountains.

However, there is one thing that seems to be generating some agreement. Proposed changes to the discovery rules of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are gaining traction. The primary changes involve (1) limiting depositions to 4 hours; (2) limiting interrogatories to 15; and (3) limiting requests for production to 25. It seems that everyone is calling foul.

After reviewing these changes, I sent out an email to my colleagues in our law firm asking for their comments. I also sent out an email to some of my friends who are defense lawyers. The responses were somewhat mixed, but everyone seemed to have concerns.

Plaintiff’s lawyers generally like the idea of limiting the duration of depositions. There seems to be a common belief that much of a plaintiff’s deposition is a fishing expedition. There is thought that it largely harasses the plaintiff. Moreover, in sexual harassment cases, it can be viewed as a way to punish a sexual harassment victim. Defense lawyers, by contrast, are adamantly opposed to limiting the duration of party depositions. One defense lawyer told me that 4 hours would virtually eliminate the effectiveness of a deposition because a plaintiff could provide evasive answers and effectively “run out the clock. “

While plaintiff’s lawyers and defense lawyers seem to disagree on the proposal for limited duration of depositions, they seem uniformly concerned about the limitations on written discovery. A couple of plaintiff’s lawyers felt that limiting the scope of written discovery would prevent abusive discovery requests and “documents dumps.” Their belief was driven largely by the thought that a lot of discovery requests are redundant in light of the mandatory disclosure requirements of Fed. R. 26(a).

However, the majority of plaintiff’s lawyers seem to share the same concerns as defense lawyers. In other words, a 15 interrogatory and 25 requests for production limit is simply unreasonable in light of the proliferation of electronically stored information. One plaintiff’s lawyer also said, “Look, the defendants have all the documents. We should not be limited in what we can ask for when we have no way of knowing what is out there.”

It will be interesting to see what the final version of the rules look like. In the interim, plaintiff’s lawyers and defense lawyers may be sharing a cold brew at a local tavern and commiserating about one of the few things they are actually able to agree upon.